Cult of Mac

The new Solos AirGo Vision smart glasses released Tuesday pair with ChatGPT artificial intelligence as a direct competitor to Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses. Both cost a relatively affordable $300 or under. And the new entrant introduce several innovative features, including a modular design that addresses privacy concerns common with camera-equipped wearables.

“We promised to deliver on allowing consumers to have control of their experience with AI and smart technology, particularly with privacy options in mind,” said Solos co-founder Kenneth Fan. “That’s why we developed frames that can easily be changed to decide when and where a camera may be appropriate without sacrificing any of the fun features.”

Rode Wireless Go III, the new generation of the popular mobile microphone system for content creators the company unveiled Tuesday, introduces upgrades like an expanded recording range, 32-bit onboard recording and, for the first time, a palette of vibrant color options to the $300 system. Black may go with everything, but now you have a choice of 14 colors, the company said.

The Tizag Digital Canvas iPhone Case makes cases with single pictures obsolete. It includes a screen you can update with new images whenever you want, and so offers almost endless personalization.

It won’t drain your phone’s battery, but the case does protect your device when you’re on the go.

I tested the case, and I really like it, despite some screen limitations.

December 10, 2012: Apple fixes an Apple Maps error that caused several motorists in Victoria, Australia, to become stranded in the remote Murray-Sunset National Park.

The early Apple Maps glitch showed the town of Mildura nearly 45 miles from its actual location. In the aftermath, Victoria police describe Apple’s navigation app as “potentially life-threatening.” That’s pretty much the opposite of “it just works.”

Apple expanded its radio service Tuesday with the launch of three new stations: Apple Música Uno, Apple Music Club and Apple Music Chill. The expansion shows Apple’s continued investment in human-curated music experiences combined with technology. The new Apple Music Radio stations offer shows from leading artists like Becky G, Honey Dijon and Brian Eno.

“Apple Music Radio is the beating heart of our service, representing the intersection of exceptional human voices and curation with cutting-edge technology that shapes and influences culture,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Music, Sports and Beats, in a press release.

Popular Science magazine named Apple’s Vision Pro headset one of its innovations of the year among new 2024 gadgets on Monday. Despite its considerable price tag and initial market challenges, the device’s revolutionary approach to augmented reality sets it apart from competitors.

“The device has its own hurdles to clear, but after just a few minutes of using it, it was clear that it’s something different, important, and honestly pretty amazing,” the magazine wrote.

Raw data isn’t appealing to everyone. Being able to transform intricate data into digestible visuals is a really useful skill across industries, but it’s also tough to learn. Good thing you don’t have to make your data visuals from scratch. Microsoft Visio 2024 is an easy-to-use tool for transforming all that complex data into professional-quality diagrams that anyone can understand.

Right now, you can get a lifetime license to Microsoft Visio 2024 for just $79.97 (regularly $579).

The new Visual Intelligence feature in iOS 18.2 provides a quick way to find information just by pointing the iPhone 16’s camera at an object in the real world. Then you can ask ChatGPT to explain what you’re looking at, do a reverse image search to find products and look things up visually, get information on a business as you walk down the street, and quickly add events to your calendar.

Here’s how it works.

Apple continues its slow Tap to Pay expansion, launching it in the United Arab Emirates. This enables merchants in the region to accept contactless payments through their iPhones.

Apple launched Tap to Pay in 2022 in the US, slowly expanding its availability to more regions since then.

A significant chunk of the internet runs on advertising revenue, so it’s no surprise that you see a lot of ads. But let’s face it: Many sites are simply choked with banner ads, pop-ups and intrusive videos that drag down your speed and the overall experience. Well-reviewed ad blocker AdGuard can help. And it’s priced down to $9.97 for a very limited time.

Since its initial spotlight on Cult of Mac, BookFusion has continued to redefine the digital reading experience, making it a leader among user-centric ebook platforms. With a host of new features, the ebook app now caters to an even broader community of ebook enthusiasts, providing cross-platform access, robust annotation tools, and a highly personalized reading experience.

In iOS 18, users can finally change out their iPhone Lock Screen buttons from the standard Flashlight and Camera to whatever they want. There’s a giant selection of buttons you can swap in their place.

In fact, any button you can put in iOS 18’s new customizable Control Center is a button you can put on your iPhone’s Lock Screen. Plus, you can add different shortcut buttons to different Lock Screens, making them context-dependent (and tied to a Focus Mode if you like).

Here’s how to swap out the iPhone Lock Screen buttons to put whatever you want at your beck and call.

Apple’s upcoming iPhone SE 4 might bring significant camera upgrades to the budget phone, with plans to incorporate a 48-megapixel main camera and a 12MP TrueDepth front-facing camera, according to a new report.

That, plus other improvements, marks a substantial upgrade over the iPhone SE 3. Unfortunately, that means you can expect the new handset to come with a bit of a price increase, too.

Monitor light bars are commonplace in computer setups for good reason. They often do a better job of cutting monitor glare and lighting up desks than overhead lights or simple desk lamps. But what if a desk lamp worked more like a monitor light bar? That’s what so-called architect desk lamps do. They’re often called double-headed LED lights. Attached to their own stand or clamped arm, they can arch right over a display, providing tons of light, control options and physical flexibility.

December 9, 2011: Apple opens a store in New York’s fabled Grand Central Terminal, the company’s fifth Manhattan retail outlet.

Overlooking the terminal’s Main Concourse, the enormous Apple Grand Central makes a stunning addition to the 140-year-old train station, which is one of New York’s busiest transportation hubs.

While it’s only about half the Golden Globe nominations Apple TV+ racked up in the awards for 2024, the streamer managed to snag eight nominations this year. The 2025 nominations include no movies. But three nods go to TV series Slow Horses, two apiece honor Disclaimer and Shrinking, and one goes to Presumed Innocent. This edition marks the Golden Globes’ 82nd year.

Apple intends to introduce its first MacBooks with an OLED screen in 2026, according to industry analysts. And the iPad mini will allegedly go OLED that same year. Apple’s full transition to OLED will take until 2028, though.

And that’s supposedly the same year the company will introduce a computer with an 18.8-inch foldable display.

If you’ve ever had a brilliant idea for an app, website or automation but felt intimidated by coding, Twidget is about to become your new best friend. This no-code platform makes  creating APIs, building websites and automating workflows as easy as dragging and dropping. And for just $39 (down from $600), a lifetime subscription gives you endless opportunities to bring your ideas to life.

Over about a week of testing for this Status Audio Between 3ANC earbuds review, I found the distinctive buds to be a product of intriguing contrasts — ambitious in some areas while falling short in others.  Currently priced at $179 (recently reduced from $199 and $249 before that), the earbuds try to compete with industry leaders like AirPods Pro 2 through a unique triple-driver design and striking looks. In fact, these earbuds even claim in ads to have a “subwoofer” for the low end. But while Between 3ANC buds boast good sound, I found overall performance results somewhat mixed.

Apple is expanding its retail presence in Saudi Arabia. In the summer of 2025, the company will launch its online Apple Store in the country, followed in 2026 with its first physical stores there.

Support for Sony PlayStation VR2 hand controllers is reportedly coming to Apple’s Vision Pro headset. The goal is supposedly to make playing virtual reality games easier on the AR headset.

Apple and Sony allegedly worked together for months to make this happen.

“The gorge is the door to Hell.” That’s all we learn about it from the trailer for the Apple TV+ thriller of the same name coming in February. Two agents tasked with protecting the world from whatever’s hidden in the depths are strictly forbidden to go in — but you know they’re going in.

The upcoming film stars Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy and Sigourney Weaver.

December 8, 1975: San Francisco Bay Area entrepreneur Paul Terrell opens the Byte Shop, one of the world’s first computer stores — and the first to sell an Apple computer.

Years before Apple would open its own retail outlets, the Byte Shop stocks the first 50 Apple-1 computers built by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

Looking for a device that’s small enough to carry anywhere but powerful enough to handle everything? This fifth-gen, grade-A refurbished iPad mini combines portability and performance, and it’s on sale for a limited time for just $279.99.

With Wi-Fi and cellular capabilities, a sleek 7.9-inch Retina display and the powerful A12 Bionic chip, it’s the perfect mix of productivity and entertainment.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: An interesting new gadget called the Flexbar takes Apple’s doomed Touch Bar idea and runs with it. Instead of being fixed in place like on the MacBook Pro, this customizable OLED strip connects to Macs and PCs via USB-C.

It looks pretty cool! But can it succeed where the Touch Bar failed?

Also on The CultCast:

• Almost as surprising as the Touch Bar making a comeback: A company figured out how to offer aftermarket SSDs for the Mac Studio, at much more affordable prices than Apple’s upgrades. (OK, that last part’s not surprising.)
• The first M5-powered iPad Pros reportedly will arrive in the second half of next year. And it sounds like that crazy hybrid iPad/HomePod might become a reality in 2025, too.
• And finally, Erfon tells us all about a sweet aftermarket CarPlay display in a new “Under Review” segment.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.